TODAY'S READING IS FROM DAY #14 of Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer for Christians - Learning to See the Glories of God's Love
The more I rehearse and exult in gospel truths, the more there develops within me a corresponding burden for non-Christians to enter into such blessings. This is also what seems to happen to the Apostle Paul while writing the book of Romans.
In Romans 5 Paul exults in his righteous standing before God. In Chapter 6 he speaks of the freedom from sin which Christ has accomplished in the lives of believers, a freedom which Paul later confesses had not yet become fully realized in his own practice (chapter 7). Nonetheless, coming into chapter 8, he recounts the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. With increasing flourish, he rehearses numerous gospel themes throughout the length of chapter 8, and he climaxes the chapter with a triumphant exclamation regarding the endless love of God which enables Christians to conquer overwhelmingly in all things.
What effect do such Gospel meditations have upon Paul?
What emotions do they produce in him besides the obvious joy he feels while reciting them? Paul bares his soul at the very beginning of chapter 9:
“I have great sorrow,” he says , “and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
Coming down from the heights of Gospel meditation, Paul’s heart is devastated by a burden for his fellow-Jews to experience the saving power of the gospel. His burden existed long before he started writing, but it is undoubtedly intensified by his rehearsal of Gospel truths in Romans 5-8, a rehearsal which inevitably leads his thoughts toward the plight of those outside of Christ.
MARY’S RESPONSE:
I consider myself a perpetual student of people. I believe it has helped me through life as I walk with Christ in his loving kindness and compassion for the lost and brokenhearted.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” ~ Psalm 34:18
Coming from my own brokenness via childhood chaos I’m thankful to experience many healthy, beautiful people in my life. As a single Christian woman my heart surely breaks over the lost but my involvement in evangelism exists inside my home church or other safe surroundings. I confess I’m not an Apostle Paul but I love walking in newness and freedom in Christ. I can only pray my long-term actions from death to life has been used for greater glory in our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:13-15).
It’s Not About Me … It’s about YOU and JESUS:
Jesus is the pure example of a true friend, for He laid down His life for His “friends.” What is more, anyone may become His friend by trusting in Him as his personal savior, being born again and receiving new life in Him.
